Premier Foods sales jumped in the first quarter, driven by a strong brand performance across the food manufacturer’s grocery and sweet treats divisions.

In the thirteen weeks to 29 June 2024, group sales increased 5.3% versus the year before, while branded sales were up 7.3% and grocery branded sales rose 8.6%.

Premier Foods said the volume-led growth in grocery was due to “strong execution of the branded growth model” and partly reflected sharper promotional pricing. As a result, market share grew in both value and volume terms.

In grocery, brands Nissin and The Spice Tailor were standout players, having delivered substantial growth, while new categories sales soared by 68% as Ambrosia porridge pots continued to take a larger share of the category.

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Despite the positive sales in branded grocery, non-branded sales declined 5.1%, which the FMCG giant said was partly due to consumers switching to brands and some contract exits.

However, sweet treats delivered sales of £59.9m in the quarter, 0.4% ahead of last year, and branded sales increased 3.5%. Market share increased in both volume and value terms, which Premier Foods said partly reflected “more competitive promotional pricing of brands, winning consumers at the expense of own label”.

In the division, Mr Kipling was the standout performer, with the brand’s Cadbury cake being a strong contributor of growth in the period, alongside its Signature Brownie Bites.

Non-branded sales of sweet treats were 16% lower, which it said reflected the movement of consumers to brands.

Premier Foods chief executive Alex Whitehouse said: “We’ve delivered another quarter of strong branded sales growth, yet again demonstrating the strength of our portfolio and the effectiveness of our branded growth model.

“As we look forward to the rest of the year, we have a strong set of marketing and product innovation plans for our brands in the UK and Ireland, while we continue to build distribution internationally.

“We expect to see more volume led branded sales growth in the coming quarters, further progress overseas and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.”